NEWINGTON, CT, Sep 2, 2005--The Corporation for National and Community
Service (CNCS) will provide a $100,000 grant supplement to ARRL to
support Amateur Radio's emergency communication operators in states
affected by Hurricane Katrina. The grant will help to fund "Ham Aid," a
new League program to support Amateur Radio volunteers deployed in the
field in disaster-stricken areas. ARRL Chief Development Officer Mary
Hobart, K1MMH, expressed gratitude to CNCS for its generous response.
Ham Aid, she said, offers a unique opportunity to support individual
radio amateurs helping to bridge the communication gap Hurricane
Katrina has caused.

"For the first time in ARRL history, we will be able to reimburse some
of the expenses that hams incur in response to a disaster," she said.
"We only wish that we could justify an expense reimbursement program
like this every time Amateur Radio Emergency Service volunteers are
called upon to help in a disaster or emergency, sometimes placing
themselves in harm's way."

In addition to providing emergency communication within and outside the
affected areas, Amateur Radio Emergency Service (ARES) members and
individual radio amateurs are supplementing the communication needs of
emergency management and relief agencies, including the American Red
Cross and The Salvation Army. Hobart said it's only due to the scope of
the unprecedented and tragic Katrina disaster that CNCS agreed to help
support dedicated Amateur Radio volunteers.

"But," she added, "we'd like to think of this grant as a token of
appreciation and a recognition of Amateur Radio's value in past
emergencies and disasters, such as 9/11."

Hobart says ARRL's Ham Aid program already has received some
substantial private donations. Those and the CNCS grant, she said,
provide a way for the League to "support our Field Organization as
never before."

The CNCS Ham Aid grant is effective for operations established and
documented as of September 1, 2005, and the aid is earmarked for
Hurricane Katrina deployments only at this point. Guidelines are being
established that will permit volunteers who have been involved in bona
fide field support operations on or after September 1 to provide
communication support to apply for a reimbursement voucher on a per
diem basis.

Trained Amateur Radio operators will be on site for the duration of
this disaster response, which could run into several weeks or months.
"Many will leave their jobs and families and travel on their own
expense, using their own equipment," Hobart points out.

Corporation funds may also sustain the Ham Aid program and help to
rebuild the emergency communications capabilities in Louisiana,
Mississippi and Alabama to ensure that the Gulf Coast is prepared,
should disaster strike again.

The CNCS grant is an extension of ARRL's three year Homeland Security
training grant, which has provided certification in emergency
communication protocols to nearly 5500 Amateur Radio volunteer over the
past three years.

"CNCS grants helped make it possible for the ARRL to train America's
hams and make them the best all-volunteer emergency radio service ever
seen," Hobart said. "Now they are making it possible for the hams to
use that training."